Dutch thrash/death/black metal outfit LEGION OF THE DAMNED has returned after a five-year hiatus. On January 4, 2019, the quartet will release "Slaves Of The Shadow Realm" via Napalm Records. The follow-up to 2014's "Ravenous Plague" was produced by Andy Classen and merges the unadulterated fury of the early LEGION OF THE DAMNED years with the sophistication of a veteran band.
Vocalist Maurice Swinkels comments on the new record: "With our seventh opus, entitled 'Slaves Of The Shadow Realm', we tried to take it a little further as where 'Ravenous Plague' ended in terms of melody, but we definitely maintain the heavy songwriting and rawness that LEGION OF THE DAMNED is known for.
"Simplicity is the key with LEGION OF THE DAMNED and less is more. With 'Slaves Of The Shadow Realm', we go full speed ahead with heaviness, but we took it a bit farther by bringing in melody and atmosphere.
"I think this is LEGION's best album to date: It crushes, it is fast, it has atmosphere and it is raw! In terms of lyrics, this is our darkest album, written by Tony 'Skullcrusher' Manero, who was also responsible for the lyrics and concepts of the albums 'Malevolent Rapture', 'Cult Of The Dead', 'Feel The Blade', 'Ravenous Plague', 'Sons Of The Jackal' and 'Descent into Chaos'.
"We are really excited to be back after four years and hope that the true LEGION fan digs this album — I am 100% certain that they will love it!
"This is LEGION OF THE DAMNED — without the bells and whistles. The wait is over and we are back!"